Midshipmen Narrowly Escape Bulldogs' Bite Unscathed

Goksu Bicer. (photo by Sam Rubin '95, Yale Sports Publicity)

Jan 23, 2010

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The men’s
swimming and diving team dropped a tough 152-142 decision to the
undefeated Navy Midshipmen Saturday at the Robert J. H. Kiphuth
Exhibition Pool. That the Bulldogs came within ten points of one of
the toughest teams on their dual meet schedule is undoubtedly a
positive for a team that has hovered around .500 thus far this
season, but makes the loss a difficult one to swallow, as a few
points here and there could easily have given the Elis the huge
upset.

“Our problem is depth,” Robert
J.H. Kiphuth Director of Swimming Frank Keefe said. “Their
third person versus our third person. Today
there was very little comparison, and we have to have people step
up.”

Navy did, indeed, dominate the top three spots
throughout the meet, but despite the frustrating loss, the Yale
divers provided a tremendous silver lining. Senior Drew Teer took
second in the one meter event with a personal-best score of 304.12,
while sophomore Colton Staab (341.85) took first in the three meter
event, with senior Eric Olson (325.57) grabbing third. Teer’s
323.55 in that event was good for fourth overall.

More importantly, all three divers qualified
for the NCAA Zone Championships, a tremendous achievement for a
squad that has been a pleasant surprise for Coach Keefe and the
Elis all season.

“The divers were phenomenal
today.” Keefe said simply. “All the men qualified for
Zones. They were phenomenal.”

As for the swimmers, the day got off to a good
start, as the consistently fast team of freshman Mike Dominski,
sophomores Zak Murez and Alex Benz, and junior Kyle Veatch took
first in the 200 yard medley relay, but they were the only Yale
squad to finish in the top three.

That trend would continue throughout the meet,
as it was only in the 200 IM and 400 yard relays that more than one
Bulldog would crack the top three.

Matt Lee took third in the 1000 yard freestyle
with a time of 9:35.60, and was also Yale’s top finisher in
the other distance event, the 500 yard freestyle, taking second in
4:39.25.

Junior Lugar Choi’s 1:43.70 was good for
third in the 200 yard freestyle, and teammates Zak Murez and Scott
Shinton also took the three spot in the 100 yard breaststroke and
200 yard butterfly, respectively. Sophomore
Chris Luu (2:10.77) edged out teammate Craig Steen (2:11.19) for
third in the 200 yard breaststroke.

The Elis did have their fair share of winners
on the day, starting with Mike Dominski, whose time of 52.17 gave
him the top spot in the 100 yard backstroke. Captain Tom Robinson
completed the Yale sweep of backstroke events, taking the 200 with
a time of 1:50.50 seconds. Freshman Jared Lovett, Choi, and Shinton
combined to sweep the top three spots in the 200 yard IM, but the
story of the day for the Bulldogs was sophomore Goksu Bicer.

“Bicer has been doing a great job all
year.” Keefe said. “He didn’t go as fast today as
he did last week, but he’s still very competitive in
there.”

Saying Bicer is competitive may be an
understatement. His time of 21.59 in the 50 freestyle was good for
first overall in that event, as was his time of 50.08 in the 100
yard butterfly. The sophomore from Istanbul, Turkey also added a
second place finish in the 100 yard freestyle, with a time of 46.51
seconds.

In the end, the lack of Bulldogs in the top
three cost them; had two more Yale swimmers taken spots in the top
three instead of Midshipmen, the Elis may have pulled off the
victory.

There is no time for Yale to consider what
might have been, however, as with next weekend comes the heated
H-Y-P meet – the annual matchup with Ivy League rivals and
perennial powers Harvard and Princeton, held this year at
Princeton. That meet will be followed by a mid-week matchup with
Brown, followed by Coach Keefe’s final dual meet at Yale
against UConn’s Huskies on February 6th.